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DISCussion: New on DVD and Blu-ray (6.25.2013)

Hot Fuzz is a very popular action-comedy from the UK and is one of many movies being re-released by Universal this week. It won our contest to be our Recommendation of the Week and whilst there are no extras, it comes in a nice Steelbook case and you can prepare yourself for The World’s End.

First Release

- The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (DVD and Blu-ray)
- The Call (DVD and Blu-ray)
- No (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Into the White (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Upside Down (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Phantom (DVD and Blu-ray)

Re-Release

- Shoah (1985) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004) (DVD and Blu-ray)
- Hot Fuzz (2007) (Blu-ray)
- Serenity (2005) (Blu-ray)
- Hulk (2003) (Blu-ray)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008) (Blu-ray)
- Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) (Blu-ray)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1963) (Blu-ray)
- Help! (1965) (Blu-ray)


Hot Fuzz
(2007) (Blu-ray) *Recommendation of the Week*

Directed by Edgar Wright
Written by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton

After the success of Shaun of the Dead Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg turned their attention to the buddy cop genre, making a police action movie in a small English village.

Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the best police officer in the London Metropolitan Police; but he is so good that he makes every other officer look bad. Angel’s superiors promote him but sent him to village with the lowest crime statistics in the UK, Sandford. But Angel discovers Sandford has a surprisingly high accident rate, leading the police sergeant to suspect a conspiracy.

The final part of the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, The World’s End is out in August.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
91% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating:
81/100 (very good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.2/10

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price:
$13.99 (Blu-ray)


It is a poor week of New Releases with only the Chilean movie No having a positive Rotten Tomatoes rating. The re-releases offer a much better selection of re-releases, with Universal offering plenty of options, as well as a documentary from The Criterion Collection.


The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
(DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Don Scardino
Written by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein (screenplay), Chad Kultgen, Tyler Mitchell, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein (story)
Starring: Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini, Jim Carrey

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a comedy about magician Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and his partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) who break up after a magic stunt goes wrong. With Burt at his lowest moment his gains help from his assistant Jane (Olivia Wilde) and his childhood icon Rance Hanson (Alan Arkin) as he seeks to regain his passion for magic.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
37% (poor)
Metacritic Rating:
44/100 (poor)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
4.3/10 (read our review)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Gag Reel: Incomparably conjured by Steve Carell!

Additional Blu-ray Special Features:
Steve Gray Uncut - Raw, never-before-seen, daredevil performances by Steve Gray (Jim Carrey); Deleted Scene & Alternate Takes - Over 20 minutes of magically missing scenes with Steve Carell and Jim Carrey!; Making Movie Magic with David Copperfield - Master Illusionist David Copperfield breaks the magicians' code (just a tiny bit) to show how The Hangman was created exclusively for the film;

Amazon Price:
$14.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com):
Content 1.5 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 3.5 stars, Extras 2 stars, Replay 0 stars (out of 5). Skip It.


The Call
(DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Brad Anderson
Written by Richard D’Ovidio (screenplay), Nicole D’Ovidio, Jon Bokenkamp, Richard D’Ovidio (story)
Starring: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Michael Imperioli, David Otunga

From the director of The Machinist and Transsiberian is the thriller The Call, starring Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin. Berry stars as Jordan Turner, a 911 operator in Los Angeles who receives a call from a teenage girl, Casey (Breslin) who has been kidnapped. But it transpires that Casey’s kidnapper may be someone from Jordan’s past.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
41% (poor)
Metacritic Rating:
51/100 (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
7.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: Commentary featuring: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin and the filmmakers; Emergency procedure: making the film

Amazon Price:
$16.99 (DVD), $22.99 (Blu-ray)


No
(DVD and Blu-ray)


Directed by Pablo Larraín
Written by Pablo Larraín (screenplay), Antonio Skármeta (play, ‘El Plebisctio’)
Starring: Gael García Bernal

No
is a Chilean movie that was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Movie at the 85th Academy Award. In 1988 the ruthless General Pinochet bows to International pressure and offers the people the Chilean people a referendum on his presidency. Rene Saavedra (Gael García Bernal, Y Tu Mamá También, Bad Education) is an in-demand advertising who is recruited to run the No campaign. With limited resources and the watchful eye of the state against the No campaign Saavedra and his team use modern campaigning tactics to ensure democracy comes to Chile.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
92% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating:
81/100 (very good)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features:
Commentary with Gael Garcia Bernal & Pablo Larraín; ; Q&A with Gael García Bernal

Amazon Price: $29.99 (DVD), $26.93 (Blu-ray)

Score (DVDTalk.com):
Content 4 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 3.5 stars, Replay 4 stars (out of 5). Highly Recommended.


Into the White
(DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Petter Næss
Written by Ole Meldgaard, Dave Mango, Petter Næss
Starring: David Kross, Stig Henrik Hoff, Florian Lukas, Rupert Grint, Lachlan Nieboer

Into the White (or Cross of Honour and Comrade in other territories) is a Norwegian-Swedish co-production. Set in 1940 after an air battle between the RAF and the Luftwaffe two German and two British survivors have to put aside their difference and the war as they try to survive the harsh Norwegian winter.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
50% (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
4.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: AXS TV: A Look at Into the White; Trailer

Amazon Price:
$14.72 (DVD), $19.80 (Blu-ray)


Upside Down
(DVD and Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Juan Diego Solanas
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kirsten Dunst

Upside Down
is a romantic sci-fi movie about Adam (Jim Sturgess, Across the Universe) and Eden (Kirsten Dunst), two people who fell in love as teenagers but are separated by interplanetary prejudice and opposing gravitational forces. Adam is willing to risk everything so he can be with the woman he loves.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 29% (poor)
Metacritic Rating:
43/100 (poor)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
6.0/10

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: The Making Of Deleted Scences History of the World Juan and Jim Preliminary Sketches Tango Storyboards Missing Forest Storyboards Office Previz Final Shot Previz Sage Mountain Previz  

Amazon Price: $12.99 (DVD), $14.99 (3D Blu-ray), $17.49 (3D Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Score (DVDTalk.com): Content 2 stars, Video 4 stars, Audio 4 stars, Extras 3 stars, Replay 1 stars (out of 5). Rent It.


Phantom (DVD and Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Todd Robinson
Starring: Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fichtner, Lance Heriksen, Johnathon Schaech, Julian Adams

Phantom is a Cold War submarine thriller about Demi (Ed Harris), a captain who has to battle for control of his vestal from Bruni (Davd Dunchovny), a rogue KGB officer. And even more important Demi needs to prevent World War III.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 25% (bad)
Metacritic Rating:
40/100 (poor)

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price:
$14.99 (DVD), $17.99 (Blu-ray)


Shoah (1985) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed by Claude Lanzmann
Starring: Simon Srebnik, Mordechaï Podchlebnik, Motke Zaidl, Hanna Zaidl, Jan Piwonski, Richard Glazar, Rudolf Vrba

The re-release from the Criterion Collection this week is Shoah, a 9 ½ hour documentary about Holocaust without using any achieve footage. The movie is made out of interviews with survivors, witnesses and Nazis, exploring how anti-Semitism caused the Holocaust and how it is still around today.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
100% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating:
99/100 (excellent)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features: New high-definition digital film restoration; Three additional films by director Claude Lanzmann: A Visitor from the Living (1999, 68 minutes), Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m. (2001, 102 minutes), and The Karski Report (2010, 54 minutes); New conversation between critic Serge Toubiana and Lanzmann; Interview with Lanzmann about A Visitor from the Living and Sobibor; New conversation between associate director of photography Caroline Champetier and filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin; Trailer; PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones and writings by Lanzmann

Amazon Price:
$69.97 (DVD), $68.99 (Blu-ray)


Shaun of the Dead
(2004) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Edgar Wright
Written by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton

Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright had an excellent relationship when they worked on the TV series Spaced, so when the show ended turned their attention to making a romantic-comedy with zombies! Shaun of the Dead has become a cult hit and essential viewing to fans of horror-comedy. Shaun (Pegg) is an ordinary man who is easily swayed by his layabout roommate, Ed (Nick Frost). The pair end up having to guide their friends and family to safety when zombies start to plague streets of London.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
91% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating:
76/100 (very good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.0/10

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price:
$13.99 (Blu-ray)


Serenity (2005) (Blu-ray)

Written and directed by Joss Whedon
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, Ron Glass, Chiwetel Ejiofor, David Krumholtz

The TV series Firefly was a cult hit but cancelled after one series by Fox. Fortunately Universal brought the rights and allowed Joss Whedon to wrap the series with a movie.

Set in the far future humanity has moved to another Solar System and has split into two factions, the Alliance in the inner system and the Rebels who live on the outer edges of the Solar System. The crew of the Serenity spaceship are members of the rebellion but they have a passenger, River (Summer Glau) who has a deadly secret. She is so converted by the Alliance that they send their best assassin, The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Children of Men), to retriever her.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
82% (very good)
Metacritic Rating: 74/100 (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.3.10

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price:
$13.99 (Blu-ray)


Hulk (2003) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Directed Ang Lee
Written by James Schamus, Michael France, John Turman (screenplay), James Schamus (story), Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (comics)
Starring: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas, Nick Nolte

The first attempt at making a movie about The Incredible Hulk was Ang Lee’s Hulk, an ambitious movie that divided critics and audiences. Eric Bana stars as Bruce Banner, an intelligent scientist who harbors many demons due to his abusive father, the loss of his mother and genetic testing conducted on him as a child. When Bruce is exposed to gamma radiation his suppressed anger forms into The Hulk. As well as battling his personal demons Bruce has to fight the military lead by General Thunderbolt Ross (Sam Elliott) who sees The Hulk as a weapon and his own father, David Banner (Nick Nolte) who wants revenge.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 62% (good)
Metacritic Rating:
54/100 (average)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
5.8/10

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price:
$13.99 (Blu-ray)


The Incredible Hulk (2008) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Louis Leterrier
Written by Zak Penn, Edward Harrison (screenplay), Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (comics)
Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson, William Hurt

After the critical and financial disappointment of Hulk, Marvel Studios regained the rights for The Incredible Hulk and rebooted the series. With a new cast The Transporter director Louis Leterrier took over the directional duties.

Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) has been on the run for years and hiding out in the favelas of Rio de Janerio when the American military find him. With nowhere to turn Bruce risks everything to go back to America with the hopes of finding a cure. But General Ross (William Hurt) still wants The Hulk and gives his new soldier, Major Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) the super soldier formula to make him the perfect soldier.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
67% (good)
Metacritic Rating:
61/100 (good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
7.6/10

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price: $13.99 (Blu-ray)


Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Written by Guillermo del Toro (screenplay), Guillermo del Toro, Mike Mignola (story), Mike Mignola (comics)
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, John Hurt

The first Hellboy movie was a financial disappointment, but Universal Pictures were able to give the series a second chance and allow Guillermo del Toro to carry on with his dream project.

In the past there was a war between humans and magical creatures which ended with a truce. A part of the truce is elves and men have separate parts of a crown that can control the legendary Golden Army. One elf, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) wants revenge against humans by reclaiming the pieces of crown. It is up to Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his companions to stop Nuada.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes):
87% (excellent)
Metacritic Rating: 78/100 (very good)
Entertainment Fuse Score:
8.0/10

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price:
$13.99 (Blu-ray)


The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
(1963) (Blu-ray)

Directed by John Ford
Written by James Warner, Bellah, Willis Goldbeck (screenplay), Dorothy M. Johnson (short story)
Starring: John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O’Brien, Woody Strode, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Lee Van Cleef

John Ford has made many Westerns over his career; one of his most highly received was The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Based on a short story by Dorothy M. Johnson, James Stewart stars as Senator Ransom “Ranse” Stoddard, a man who made his reputation for killing a notorious outlaw, Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). But when Stoddard arrives in the town of Shinbone for his friend’s (John Warne) funeral he reveals what really happened.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes: 93% (excellent)

DISC DETAILS

Amazon Price: $34.99 (Blu-ray)


Help! (1965) (Blu-ray)

Directed by Richard Lester
Written by Charles Wood (screenplay), Marc Behm (story)
Starring: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr

Last but not least is The Beatles musical comedy Help! as Ringo Starr becomes the target for human sacrifice by a Eastern Cult and it is up the rest of the band to protect.

Critics Rating (Rotten Tomatoes): 91% (excellent)

DISC DETAILS

DVD Special Features:
a 30-minute documentary about the making of the film, memories of the cast and crew, an in-depth look at the restoration process, an outtake scene, and original theatrical trailers and radio spots. An introduction by the film's director, Richard Lester, and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese are included in the Blu-ray's booklet.

Amazon Price:
$21.99 (Blu-ray)

 

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